sit properly

Well, the Blue Books have helped. You've got to interpret them to the modern maps, but that's easy enough. I'm interested in the alignment from Seattle to Falls City that went through Issaqua. The 1924 Blue Book has the "middle" alignment. The 1916 Blue Book has the "early" alignment and Hobbs has the "later" alignment. In my opinion, I've got the middle alignment down. It's the early and later that have got me stumped. The description of the first (early) alignment from the 1916 blue book makes no sense to me, but maybe there's a map? Hobbs "description" of the later alignment through Issaqua is vague. These two alignments are close to each other, I think. The middle one took Madison and went through Kirkwood, etc. Aside from that, nothing is ridiculously urgent. Though if I could find my own copy of the ABB, I'd be ecstatic. I wonder if the libraries might have one (edit - they do, they've got the 1913-1914 edition and one for the whole US from 1921. Also 1923 and 1925 editions of a volume covering most of the western states, including Washington. They've also got multiple years of Automobile blue book ... v. 6: The Southwest and all year transcontinental routes... would this be helpful?). Thanks a bunch! -Eric

Thanks to John's map and the 1924 Blue Book, my routing on the map: Fall City to east of Cle Elum has been changed quite a bit. Thanks, John (for the map) and thanks, Dave (for scanning the '24 Blue Book in one of your posts). Here's the updated info: Fall City to east of Cle Elum (updated 04.27.09) *I'm pretty sure that YT follows WA 202 from FC to I90 (except River RD > Park ST > Boalch Ave in and out of Snoqualmie - which matches the '24 Blue Book exactly) *Since much of the YT after Exit 34 of I90 is buried under the interstate, I've marked places where I believe there to be old sections of the road. Most of these are side-trips and not "through" roads. *From Exit 54 to 71 - Most of the old YT is still out there. It's marked on my maps (thanks John!) *Exit 70 is a bit confusing. You exit, cross I90, left on Sparks, left on NFD 4828 (crossing I90 again) and right on the frontage RD. There's an old bridge and I'm betting the frontage road was old something, but it now seems doubtful that it was YT. If you retrace your route, but instead of getting back on I90, you cross it and continue on Lake Easton RD to Easton, reentering I90 at exit 71 (though not before following Railroad Street till it dead ends), you are traveling on a continuation of whatever road that bridge was on. seems doubtful now that it was YT. *Exit 74 - Nelson Siding Road was not YT. *The routing through and around Cle Elum matches up with Hobbs Guide and matches the mileage of the 1924 Blue Book exactly (yay!!) *YT never used WA 10. And if you want to get REALLY technical, it never used WA 970. Though you have to do a little driving on 970, it's only because the original road no longer exists. You can see what I mean at the eastern terminus of this section of my mapping.

Oh this is GREAT! Thanks! A lot of my assumptions were correct and there are some places where my hunches were correct. I guess I should start going with my hunches as well. Some were wrong too (like Nelson Siding RD not being part of it). I've got a question, but I'll email it to you. It's about WA 970. I was REALLY excited to learn that Tinkham RD was YT. We tried to take it last time we were through there, but it was under 3 or so feet of snow. Exploring the passes is clearly a summer thing. I'll be changing my Googlemaps thing on the other post. -Eric

Hi John! For some reason, your map wasn't loading. I'm not sure why, but you posted it elsewhere and it works now. John's Map You can do really detailed and annotated maps with GoogleMaps, but I don't really know how. I tried yesterday, but failed and just made regular maps. I think I'll complete my maps and then wait for yours (if you're up to it). I just like doing it, but you're more of an authority on this than I am. I'm just a wild speculator. I'll post the rest of my maps in the original post. As for when the trip is, it might be this week, but we shall see. -Eric Edit: I have some differing ideas about the YT in some sections, based upon the 1924 Blue Book. My maps (from Seattle's northern alignment to east of Cle Elum) reflect both John's map and my interpretation of the Blue Book. You can find them here. They will be updated as I learn more from John and if any other Blue Book pages are made available on the forum (hint hint... ).

I'll be taking a two-day quick trip across Washington traveling as much as possible upon the old Yellowstone Trail. Unlike other old roads that I've traveled (Route 66, etc), there's no guide book to tell me to "turn left at crappy dirt road and hope for the best." So I had to gather some common sense, maps, hearsay, luck and prayers and map it out myself. I think I done good. But certainly not perfect. Not by a long shot. Here are links to how I'll be driving it with a little explanation along the way. Again, much of this is speculation. I could be wrong on a good many things. If I am and you have another idea, please correct me. I'm not anything close to an expert on this, I'm just having fun. These are my *driving* directions. I'm trying to drive upon every available section of the YT. Obviously, with some sections that's not possible. Each link will go to a map on GoogleMaps. Seattle to Fall City (early more northerly alignment according to 1917 & 1924 Blue Books and others) *YT used 4th Ave, south to Jackson, but you can no longer go that way - used 2nd instead. *YT used 19th Ave north from Jackson, but it's now a park. Used 18th and Yessler to bypass back to 19th. *YT crossed Lake Washington via a Ferry from Madison Ave to Kirkwood Way (at Marina Park, Kirkwood). You can see how I detoured. *I'm pretty sure I'm wrong from Kirkland to Redmond. Help! *The use of the famous "brick road" is a bit of a mystery. The 1924 alignment definitely used it, but the 1917 alignment, which is almost identical to the 1924 alignment, did not. Seattle to Fall City (later more southerly alignment - post 1925ish) *This is mostly based upon Hobb's 1926 map/guide. There's very little to go on, so much of this is speculation. The only road I know for sure is Rainier Ave. Any help would be helpful. There was an even earlier alignment through Seattle, but the routing from the 1916 Blue Book makes no sense when compared with modern Seattle. Fall City to east of Cle Elum (updated 04.30.09) *The routing around Snoqualmie is from the 1917 Blue Book. The 1924 alignment entered Snoqualmie via WA 202, took a left at River ST and a right on Park Street, meeting up with the 1917 YT. *Also, the routing around Snoqualmie Falls as shown on the map is from 1917. By 1924, the YT used modern 202. *Since much of the YT after Exit 34 of I90 is buried under the interstate, I've marked places where I believe there to be old sections of the road. Most of these are side-trips and not "through" roads. *From Exit 54 to 71 - Most of the old YT is still out there. It's marked on my maps (thanks John!) *Exit 70 is a bit confusing. You exit, cross I90, left on Sparks, left on NFD 4828 (crossing I90 again) and right on the frontage RD. There's an old bridge and I'm betting the frontage road was old something, but it now seems doubtful that it was YT. If you retrace your route, but instead of getting back on I90, you cross it and continue on Lake Easton RD to Easton, reentering I90 at exit 71 (though not before following Railroad Street till it dead ends), you are traveling on a continuation of whatever road that bridge was on. seems doubtful now that it was YT. *Exit 74 - Nelson Siding Road was not YT. *The routing through and around Cle Elum matches up with Hobbs Guide and matches the mileage of the 1924 Blue Book exactly (yay!!) *YT never used WA 10. And if you want to get REALLY technical, it never used WA 970. Though you have to do a little driving on 970, it's only because the original road no longer exists. You can see what I mean at the eastern terminus of this section of my mapping. From here, the YT divided. Taking modern US 97 South took you on the older alignment. Taking US 97 North took you on the newer alignment. I'll be taking the older alignment east and the newer alignment west, on my return trip. East of Cle Elum to Zillah *In Ellensburg, it's very clear that YT came into town on Dry Creek RD/15th, which curved right to meet Main. That curve can't be done now, so a short detour of Water & 14th Street to Main is necessary. *The routing of everything after Ellensburg is 100% pure speculation. I really have no idea. I'm just guessing. If anyone has any details, help me out. *I've got a big hunch that US 12 through Sawyer and Flint wasn't the YT, but I'm not sure where it was. *Going into Zillah, I'm pretty sure YT did the right angle thing. I love that. Zillah to Walla Walla *After Granger, I'm not sure why I think YT was on Outlook RD and not Gap RD. Maybe it was both, maybe it was neither. Any ideas? *The Routing south of Sunnyside is a totally mystery to me. I "know" that YT used the Grandview Pavement RD, but not sure how it got there. Thankfully after Grandview, there's a road called Old Inland Empire Hwy. I'm hoping that's YT as well. *The routing through West Richland and Richland feels a bit wrong. But I don't know what else it could be. *Though unmarked on my map (Google wouldn't let me add another destination), opposite Dodd RD after Burbank seems to be an old section of road. It's just a small stretch and was probably either where the bridge crossed or where the water rose after being dammed somewhere. *I've also got some confusion about the roads west of Reese. Which was YT? *The routing through Walla Walla is pure speculation. Walla Walla to Colfax *Between Delaney and Dodge, I think YT was just north of US 12. I doubt most of it is drivable. *Before Central Ferry, the YT used to cross at a ferry just upstream (north). I think it should be accessible via Hastings Hill RD. I'm sort of confused about this and I'm doubting I'll figure it out anytime soon. *In Wilcox, I'll turn south onto Wilcox RD and follow it and Penawawa RD as far as I can, hopefully to the river where the ferry crossed to Hastings Hill RD. I'll then return the way I came. I'll take a right on Musgrave RD, which I (for some reason) believe to be YT after they cut off the Penawawa ferry. *There is some speculation (by me) that Wilcox was cut off at some point. If that's so, then I bet they used Colfax Airport RD to go into Colfax. Dave has mentioned that there are old road graters along this road. I'm not really convinced that the airport road was ever YT, but I'll check out the graters anyway! Colfax to State Line, ID *Into the Cashup (which is a really fun town name), YT when into it from the south on Cashup Flat RD. For some reason, Googlemaps won't let me do that. *Around Rosalia, there's the original YT arrow on a RR overpass. I don't know if it's on 195 or old 195 (assuming "old"). That would determine where the YT was. *Going into Spokane from the south, I'm a bit confused. My best guess is what I have. My second best guess (and the one I wish it were) is, starting just west of Hangman Valley Golf Course and just west of 195 at Hatch RD. It would loop back to 195 and then turn off right again just south of Campion Park. From there, Hatch RD to High Drive to Cedar ST to Walnut or Maple and then to Sprague (which you can't take east anymore). *The Hobb's Guide is for the later, northern alignment, so it's no help here at all (till later, of course, where it helps quite a bit). *On my map, I use 3rd Ave because Sprague is a one way street. I move to it when it becomes both ways. *I'm fairly certain of the Appleway alignment just east of Spokane. I do believe that it wasn't always this - there was a slightly more northern alignment, but I don't know which came first (or if I'm even correct). The Way Back! (The later, northern alignment) State Line, ID to Creston *First, I have pretty much zero idea about this routing into Spokane. It would be nifty, but I don't believe I have any real proof of this. Or maybe I did and now I forget. I do know that it *was* as good road at the time. *Ignore the weird little loop thing when Wellesely Ave meets Trent RD/290. GoogleMaps insists that I can't enter 290 without making a weird little loop. I assume they're wrong and so should you. *I don't know how the YT got to Sprague Ave. But according to Hobb's Guide (1926), it did. The Routing through Spokane (from Sprague > west) is almost like Hobb's. You can't do it anymore due to the interstate. Hobb's has it: Sprague > Riverside > 1st > Cannon > 6th > Lindeke. Today, you have to travel: Sprague > Riverside > 1st > Cannon > W Sunset Blvd. Here, 6th Ave is covered by I90's exits 279 and 280. Lindeke is partially covered/moved, etc. The routing on my map is as close as you can get (though it wouldn't surprise me if modern day Rosamond Ave was used). *At Deep Creek, there's an old section called Old Sunset Highway. I wanted to put this on the routing too, but Google wouldn't let me use another destination point. *Alexander Road comes up quite a lot in this part of Washington. Anyone know what it was? *Mapping the north is easy because "Old Sunset Hwy," etc still exist. I just assume that this was also YT. Creston to Monitor (Updated 05.12.09) *There are TONS of zig-zaggy wild speculations here! I have reasons for all of them, but pretty well zero proof. *Just after Coulee City and right after crossing the dam, to the left, right before WA 17, there's an "unknown road" that I believe is how the original YT meets US 2. *The old section between G RD SE (yes, that's a road name) and F RD SE is probably *not* drivable. I saw it and was tempted to take the sedan over it, but ehh. I could do it in a scooter though. And will. You can see the old road pretty well from US 2 though. *The Sulpher Springs loop might very well be not accessible. I couldn't find it when I drove it before. *The road up over Moses Coulee (just after Sulpher Spring loop) may or may not be private property. The ground on either side of the road is owned by some hunting group. It's not very well marked and if they really wanted to keep people out, they'd gate it. I don't know how much land they own or if any of the road is private property. As always, tread very lightly and use your head. *Just west of Waterville, the old road used a different alignment to make the climb. Google says that there's still a road there, but I'm doubting that it will head all the way back to US 2. I'll find out. *The original bridge from East Wenatchee to Wenatchee went from 9th Ave (in East Wenatchee) to Bridge ST (in Wenatchee). *I'd love to know why Badger Mountain RD wasn't used. *East of Monitor, I really have no idea. Maybe it was Lower Monitor RD, maybe it was Easy Street the whole way. Who knows? Monitor to Cle Elum *The weird loop thing just after Monitor is intentional. I'm not sure where the YT was here. Wherever it was, US 2 cuts it apart. I'm pretty sure you can't drive it like it was. I do the loop thing to drive as much as possible. *According to Hobbs, the YT was on the south side of the Wenatchee River. US 2 is on the north. *Dryden was on YT, but you have to loop around it to drive it. It probably crossed the river to Motel Street and connected back to US 2. While there, please visit Dead Man's Hill RD. It overlooks Dryden and is really beautiful. *You can see on my map, that I pretty well follow US 97 over Blewett Pass. There's a big bulge sticking out to the east. I have a hard time believing this is the original road. NDF 7320 to 9715 is a good assumption for the original road. Also, 7320 > 200 > 113 > 9714 (or some combination thereof) might be correct also. *Some sources claim that Liberty was on the YT. But I'm not sure how it all fits in here. I'm betting Dave knows. And that's it! Everything else has been covered. Again, these are my speculations. If you have other ideas, let me know. I'll change the maps and mark when they were updated. I'd like to keep this as a work-in-progress. At least until there is some official book/site, etc about it. -Eric

Gas is probably the biggest issue, so the less gas you can use, the better. Last summer this became a financial concern as well. A good word of advice - slow down. Generally, the faster you go, the more gas you consume and the more money you spend. Besides, slowing down is safer and more enjoyable for everyone. Now, I didn't do this for "green" reasons, but for reasons of fun, I ride a Vespa that gets 65mpg. Did Route 66 and a bunch of other places too last summer. I spent very little on gas and had an amazing time. This, of course, isn't practical for everyone, of course - but it's food for thought. -Eric

Hi Dave and thanks! I guess it's confirmed most of what I thought. You never know till you get there, of course. I'd like to see the old graters. They seem to be on Colfax Airport Road, which would have been a "newer" alignment after 1923 (according to your map) when the YT bypassed Wilcox. Either way, worth a detour to check them out. I'll check out Wilcox too just for fun. So you're saying that the old ferry landing is before the road follows the river. I'll have to wait till summer to explore that part, but we might go as far as we can in the sedan. The opposite side would be fun to explore. I bet once you're there it's clearer. In his book, Meeks claims that the YT used what is basically WA 10, but from your maps and other sources, I think it's clear that it never did. I'm assuming that road wasn't even there at the time. Great road though! Also on your map, it shows that Penawawa had a population of 192. That's pretty impressive. Meeks says that Penawawa is now underwater, but I wonder how true that is. I'm beginning to distrust his book. He was mistaken about Old Durr Road and about WA 10, both of which were mistakes that could have been corrected by comparing maps. But then, maybe he just got the names wrong. He traveled most, if not all of the trail and overall the book is really nice. It's just now I don't fully trust his alignment details. But then, that's why we have second editions. -- Another question - How did the YT enter/leave Spokane from Idaho? There seems to be two routes. One was described as "the Appleway" routing. Lo and behold, Googlemaps shows Appleway Ave right on the border. The YT that came in from Idaho's Seltice Way (which went through Post Falls). Did the other alignment come in from Idaho via Seltice Way and then hand a slight right on Wellesley Ave through Otis Orchard, then take a leftish onto Trent/WA 290? Does anyone have a description of the YT through Spokane from the south? I hope it used E High Drive because it looks like a fun road. Same with Hatch. Ok, enough questions for now. Thanks! -Eric There is another alignment that apparently went through Idaho's Fourth of July canyon.

Thanks! These are all noted and I suspect I'll get to all of them over the summer. For this trip (possibly next week), we'll be taking YT as much as possible from Seattle to Walla Walla to Spokane then back on the northern route and over Blewett Pass. The only problem I'll run into will be snow over the passes, but those are close enough to home that it won't matter. I've got three sections that I'm wildly speculating and/or confused about and would love some help. I'm using both GoogleMaps and Mapquest and the book On the Road to Yellowstone for help. Still, I'm confused. --- Right now, I'm mapping out the YT between Cle Elum and Spokane. Heading south from Wilcox, the original YT (I think) used Wilcox Road, connecting to Penawawa Road, eventually heading to the Snake River. From the satellite images, it looks like the ferry was possibly where Penawawa Road hangs a hard right and becomes Horton Grade Road. Seems like there's a small road heading to the river. Once crossing the Snake River, it seems the ferry landed at Hastings Hill Road. There are two spots where it could have landed (about 1000ish feet from one another). Hastings Hill Road follows the river for a bit and then turns away from the river. It then "dead ends" at Lower Deadman Road. And that's it. Lower Deadman Road heads to WA 127, which is a "newer" alignment of YT. But I can't imagine that Lower Deadman Road is the original YT. My wild speculation is that the YT took Hastings Hill Road, hung a right on Lower Deadman Road past Willow Gulch Road and right where it curves right to head back to WA 127, it actually turned a bit left connecting with Meadow Creek Road via an unmarked (on Googlemaps and Mapquest) road. I actually have no idea though. Any thoughts on this? I know it's pretty specific and that Harold Meeks states in his books that some of this road might be under water thanks to a dam. I'm sure that is somewhat true, but I think there's a lot of it out there (on the south side of the river). --- Also, at Dodge, the YT seems to have branched off heading north of US 12, staying on the north side of the nearby stream, attaching to Chard Road (according to Mapquest), and finally heading to Archer Road. From there, it went straight connecting to Pataha Lane. It finally ended up on WA 261 where it took a left and connects with US 12. It always stayed north of the stream (until connecting with WA 261), even when the rail road crossed the stream. Is any of this true? Seems like there would be a lot to explore in this area. Fun! Again, any thoughts? And did it really follow US 12 south to Dayton? That seems fishy, but not sure why. Maybe Smith Hollow Road? --- Also, let me share another wild speculation. The YT from east of Cle Elum to Ellensburg wasn't actually on the really great road Washington Route 10. It took the WA 970 corridor to the WA 97 corridor. But more exactly, my speculation is: After leaving Cle Elum via 1st Ave, it is never on WA 970. It took Airport Road east, curved right and then left onto Masterson RD and then left onto Red Bridge Road. The satellite shots of this area on Googlemaps are really bad, but just as Red Bridge Road nears Teanaway Road they improve. It is pretty clear that the YT took a right onto Teanaway Road and then a curve left onto W Ballard Hill Road. And though you cannot map this on GoogleMaps, it curved left onto Ley Road and immediately took a right onto Swauk Prairie Road. It followed Swauk Prairie Road to where you can plainly see (on the Satellite view) that it took a right, did a switchback and crossed modern day WA 970 (which is impossible to do now) and met up with Burke Road where you could take a left to go over Blewett Pass or a right to head to Ellensburg. Taking a right, Burke Road eventually meets up with WA 97. After a mile or so, the YT continued left onto Bettas Road, which curves away from WA 97, but meets back up with it. After that, there is one old section called Old Highway 97 to the left. I believe it then followed the tracks on Dry Creek Road into Ellensburg. I could be wrong about any and all of this. I'm sure I'll have more questions, but I think I'm pretty close.

I'm not really sure I'll be able to make it this Thursday, especially that far out. I'm still working on the details. I think I've got a lot of it figured out, but I know there are old roads that were used that you wouldn't suspect would have been used. I've been pouring over your posts and trying to figure it out, but still, I know there are things I'll miss. If there are any not-so-obvious (like the Yakima Valley's Wenas Road), I'd love some hints in that direction. I've done some searching, the "Lewiston Grade" is either a rails-to-trails route in Washington or the "Spiral Highway" in Idaho off of US 95. If it's the Spiral Highway, it might just be worth the trek. -Eric

Thanks! And thanks for taking the time to look at the pictures. I very literally remember almost nothing from when I went through there less than a year ago. I remember being nearly killed by a falling tree (well, missed it by a minute or so) and Leavenworth and apparently the barn at Waterville (since I took a picture of it). Though I remember the barn being on the other side of the road. Thankfully I'm getting a chance to really explore the area. Maybe some of it will stick. -Eric

I rode Nevada Route 722, which is an alignment of Lincoln Highway. It was opened in 1925, but within a handful of years, folks were wanting it to go back to the old alignment (via the town of New Pass). You can read about my trek through Nevada here. Lots of pics too. It is in my top five favorite roads of all time. -Eric

Dave, I'll be taking a closer look at the posts on this forum shortly. I looked at them a few weeks ago, but just admired rather than plotted. I think I have the basic corridor down and some ideas on old alignments, but nothing is actually set in stone. I'm a huge fan of the Snake River, having followed it through Idaho twice last year. I've got most things Oregon Trail related down on my list of "must know more about," though I've read several accounts of the Whitman massacre and will definitely be stopping there. Palouse Falls keeps coming up in my readings, so I'll hit that as well. I went to the Seattle Public Library book sale this past weekend and picked up ten or so books on Washington (including a general history of the state that was written in 1926). I got some back roads books and even a 1955 edition of Sunset Magazine's book on Washington. There's a picture of Moses Coulee, but I don't know which alignment it's taken from. We'd like to do the YT in Washington in two days, but I have a feeling it'll be three (can't afford much more). Just talking to Sarah now. She wants to do it this week. Thursday, probably. I'm always ready for a trip, but the snow will still be on parts of the old road over the passes. That's a bummer but it gives me an excuse to do it all over again this summer! -Eric ps - totally forgot about the marquee picture! I take a lot of pictures of old theaters. This one thrilled me. Pretty much every town had a theater. Most are still there (though most of those are out of business). Even saw an old Drive-in theater just south of Soap Lake. Closed though.

mga - Thanks! No faceless children nightmares, thankfully. So far, anyway. Dave - That makes sense. I should have gotten out and looked at it. Being from Pennsylvania, my first thought was something to do with coal mining. We've got a lot of such buildings falling apart across the state. But this was clearly not the case. I'll have to check it out again. If that's where they put the bodies of those who have trespassed while exploring old alignments, then I'll be in some very good company! Maybe we'll even start a magazine about it. hehe

I've luckily never had a run in with police, but I've found that most old alignments are in areas where nobody ever is, cops or otherwise. The scooter is a GREAT way to avoid 20 point turns. You just turn it around. And if you get stuck, you can usually pull yourself out. It's great! I guess a Vespa probably isn't the best way to see old roads. A trail bike that's also street legal would probably be best. I can't really ford streams on the Vespa, but a trail bike would have no problem at all. A problem I had on Route 66 was book. You can only carry a few. I had a bag just for books. Made a great back rest too! I took the thing on roads where I could never take a car. Even took it on some where I wouldn't take any four wheeled vehicle. Two wheels are quite useful, I fully recommend one. Touring on a motorcycle/scooter really opens up the world to you. You see more, notice more, remember more (usually). Now, when I tour in a car, I always feel like I'm missing things. On a scooter, I can just pull over and take a picture of something. In a car, it's much more difficult. I took thousands more pictures and just as many more memories than I would have had I done Scoot 66 in a car. All this and 65 - 70mpg! Not bad. It's not for everyone, but I completely suggest it. And now I can't wait to get on the road again! -Eric

Dave, that pig tail is pretty great. Aside from a "cloverleaf," I've never seen anything like it. It reminds me of Tehachapi Loop in California. -Eric

Jim, Thanks so much for following along with GoogleMaps - that's how I did the initial poking around. As for Calhoun Road, I was mistaken. It wasn't that a bridge was out, it was just closed. And probably for a long time. It was another road that I was thinking about. I thought that I changed that. But now I'm not so sure. I've made the change now. Sofie Road must have. I usually check on stuff like that. Maybe I did, my memory is horrible. I remember that I stopped there on my way back on Scoot 66 to fix my throttle - it was sticking. It was one of the only things I remember from that trip to this. With the aerial shot on GoogleMaps, you can see where it attached to US 2, but how it crossed the tracks is strange. I wonder if the tracks are newer than the road. You can do the Street Views thing on Fern Bluff and that's nice, but it does it no justice at all. I love narrow roads. The roads now are safer and wider and that's just super, but old narrow roads make me smile. The way Sultan-Startup Road doubles back like that is strange. I'll have to check it out again to see why. From the aerial view, you can't really tell. It makes no real sense why Index has a really cool suspension bridge. There's a story there. Maybe on your third bridge, Washington gives you an awesome bridge out of pity. Especially in Index, if that bridge goes out, you're stuck. I'm unsure about Mt. Index River Road. It looks like it could have been and I can't remember why we didn't take it (other than I was more excited to see the town than the old road - which is very odd for me). Also, the bridge right before the turn off for Index and right after the junction of Mt. Index River Road and US 2 was a bridge that I found in the Lee Pickett photos. I was thrilled to go over it. Also there was some confusion with construction there. I'll have to try it next time. That bridge was from the 1920's, so it Mt. Index River Road was the original, it was a very early original. Washington must spend so much money on really cool bridges that they can't spend any on bridges needed for a handful of roadies (is that what we're called?). If the picture you're talking about with the old section of road just east of where 97 leaves 2, that's the section that (somehow) goes into Waterville that I sort of hinted towards Dave that I was going to explore. Hopefully soon. Somehow. Never be chicken to take roads! What's the worse that could happen? (famous last words). But with private property, I shy away. I just don't want the hassle. If I really just can't leave well enough alone, I'll go in on foot. But that is very very rare and usually only when I've heard of others doing it. -Eric

Dave, It's a shame the place is closed, and it looks like if they don't soon do something about it, it might be beyond revitalization. Those things go fast. What inspired me to go to Index was all the pictures by Lee Pickett. I'd love to find the old saw mill and do some more poking around. Even found a photo of a whole crew of Wobblies! This area is great. As for Leavenworth, I enjoy freaky places. That the town actually just up and decided to do this shows the community spirit we all wish we lived around. It's enlivening and inspiring! Though.. that they did that with it is somewhat disturbing, but they get an A for effort. Moses Coulee was one of my favorite roads ever. I'm sure I can think of ones that I've enjoyed more (trying... maybe something on 66 in Oklahoma), but not many. Thanks for the heads up on it. There's not much more to explore there, but I'll definitely be back. I'd like to know what that strange building was used for. I'd love to know the origins of that car too. And Vantage Road is breath-taking. I'll have to dip into that too. With a camera, of course. - Eric ps - I'm not sure when we'll be heading out for the Southern Loop, but hints are always welcomed. Hopefully we'll be going out in the next couple of weeks. I guess we'll have to get a motel room, but that's ok. Thanks again!

Yesterday, my friends Sarah, Cole and I hoped in the car and took a 450 mile trip to some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. We went from Seattle, over the Cascades to the old Yellowstone Trail, over the Columbia and to the desert, seeing the ancient riverbeds known as Coulees. We explored old sections of the Yellowstone Trail and other roads, making me fall completely in love with the state of Washington. I rode much of yesterday’s trip on the beginning of the last leg of Scoot 66. Oddly, I remember very, very little of it. The day was packed full (too full) of fun and I didn’t get a chance to check out everything I wanted to. Also, right when we stumbled up Frenchman’s Coulee (very literally, some of the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen), the battery on my camera died a horrible death. I nearly did the same. It was a real bummer. Here are my pictures and a much more detailed description of the day. You can start at the beginning and read along! There are 200 or so pictures, and a lot of description, so if you like this kind of stuff, this is the kind of stuff you'll like. - Eric

Dave, Sorry to hear about that. At least it's improving. That's very good. The trip was long (450 miles) and my camera battery died. It was after the US 2 segment, so I got a LOT of Moses Coulee. I also got a lot of Old US 2 and was on the Vantage Highway near Frenchman Coulee when my camera stopped working. It was the most beautiful ground I've seen in a long, long time. We'll be heading out there soon though. I should have the report posted tomorrow (200 pics). It was a great day. And speaking of the Pacific Coast Highway, I was mistaken about the National Trails Highway going by my place, which is on current WA 99 - Aurora Ave. Looks like the PCH came into Seattle via modern day Bothell Way > Lake City Way > Roosevelt, etc. Not via Aurora. We took that heading up to US 2. Looks like a lot of old sections to explore. Thank god. Something to do close to home! -Eric

The Frey Hotel is a beautiful building. It's on Yessler Way and is now housing for the homeless and low income families. This cross-country trip would be a fun one to follow. I've found reference to a couple different alignments through Washington, one even going to Everett and then south on what I assume was Old 99, which also goes right by my house. I ride on it every day! Not fully sure if it was ever National Park Highway (depending on which map you trust), but still a nice thing. This is all pretty exciting. I'll be on some of the NPH tomorrow to Coulee City. There will be pictures. -Eric

Dave, thanks! I had no idea that 2 was originally on the Chumstick Highway. I made a quick last-minute change. Thanks!

It may not be for everyone, but camping suits me and is much cheaper. Many campsites have WiFi now, and even if you have to pay for it, it's cheaper than a motel. And camping is always better than those really cheap, questionable motels. Except in winter, of course. Also, pack food. Restaurants are nice and are definitely a way to see the local color. But they're also really expensive. A couple of apples, some nuts and a peanut butter sandwich make for a fine meal. Also Clifbars. I think I survived a week or so eating nothing but those things. I can't eat them now though, I over-did it. -Eric

A fun thing you can do with the StreetView, especially on old roads, is find some old pictures of that area and do a "Then & Now" perspective without even being there! It's for the lazy tourist/historian like myself. On the left is a 1926 image of Steven's Pass on US 2. On the left is the Google StreetViews image of the same location. The angle is a bit off, but that's the price we pay. Fun! More of these are on my blog here.

Dave, Thanks! The map you posted was a piece of the puzzle. When I rode US 2 this past summer, I noticed a great many old alignments, but was too tired/bummed to do anything but follow them with my eyes. Googlemaps shows that many of these alignments are real roads. The aerial view, however proves otherwise. Some hiking may be in order. As for other maps and posting them, I'll leave that up to you. I think I'm good with what we're doing this week. Since we're heading out US 2 from Everett, I've done some researching on those old alignments (to some success here and there), but the stripmaps predate the Cascade Highway. I did stumble onto a slew of photos taken by Lee Pickett and have been able to match some of them up with Googlemaps Streetviews. I had a lot of free time today. I'll be posting some examples on my blog tomorrow. I watch the weather pretty well, but as my last trip showed me, not well enough (what?! five feet of snow! how?!). I'm sure some of the alignments on the west side of the Cascades will be closed. But that's why there's summer! And as for hosting, I've got that covered. I should use that anyway rather than eat up the space for those who don't have it. Oh, and sorry that some guy was selling them on Ebay. It bugs me when people make a lot of money for public domain stuff. I do believe that everything should be shared, but that has to go both ways. yttrailman - Thanks for the info and the promise to release the info! That's just wonderful. It's also good to have some confirmation that Durr Road wasn't involved. I've seen several folks saying that it was and got a little obsessed over it. I am a little surprised that the YT didn't use the Canyon Road, but then maybe it was just a case of not caring/not knowing/we're moving it up north anyway so it doesn't really matter. I've seen several references to "the highway then moved to Canyon road," but they never really seem to mention which highway they're talking about. I'm assuming it's not the YT though. I don't have any of the Blue Books and they're priced pretty well out of my range. Shame, really. I'm betting they're in some PD online collection that I've yet to stumble upon. For now, GoogleEarth and good old fashioned exploring will have to do. -Eric

Ok, as far as I can tell, we're heading east (and back) on Thursday. I'm currently trying to find old sections of US 2 (and am really surprised that that road didn't connect with anything farther east till the 30's). I just got a chance to watch both videos and the road west from Waterville looks fun. We'll have Sarah's sedan and she probably won't go for it, but I'll give it a shot. If not, I'm sure I can do it on the Vespa. I don't have a pick up truck, only a scooter, but I treat it like a dirt bike. Everything will be documented and I'm pretty excited. I have to keep it fun for everyone, so the tunnel, if it's open, is a must. We'll head out US2 to Grand Coulee and then down the coulee and along Vantage Road to I90 west. It'll be a long day, but what else am I going to do? I can't say that I've ever *wanted* to write a book. I've written a handful of poetry chapbooks, but a proper book, nope. I've offered my help with exploring on a few though. I wouldn't be opposed to it. The National Parks Highway Association (reformed) is a great idea. I was looking at the 25-26 map of Washington that you have on your site. Looks easy enough to follow though Washington. Pretty much all of it was also Yellowstone Trail after 27ish, right? I've not read much on it (though found a New York Times article from 1917), but looks fun. Sign me up. Roadside History of Washington looks fairly hard to find. It's way out of print and Amazon sellers have no copies. I'll keep my eye open. Even the library does not have it. Exploring Washington, on the other hand, fetches around $150 on Amazon. I'll have to do without that for a bit. The Preston book is only $8 and I'll probably pick it up. Thanks! I'm very much coveting those strip maps that you have. They should be reproduced. They're just the right size and detail. Really useful. -Eric